Finding the right words under pressure is hard, even for managers who do it every week. PMR tracks how well they manage it in the minutes after a match.
I learned how much those words matter in places where lives were on the line. One of those moments came down to three seconds. I’ll tell you about it at the end.
Every post-match interview Mikel Arteta has given in Premier Managers Revealed 2026/27, collected in one place: the quotes, the score out of 12, the Identity level and the analysis, matchweek by matchweek. For the latest standings, see the Premier Managers Revealed league tables.
Matchweek 1
Arsenal 3 – 0 Coventry City
Friday 21 August, Emirates Stadium
Mikel Arteta — Arsenal (home)
11/12 · Identity level fed: Capability
“There was a lot to like. Obviously it was a great result, but the manner we started the game, the domination, clarity, understanding and growth in the game was really impressive.”
“It was great because the start is always tricky, we played a team that had a long time to prepare as well, and they are really good at what they do. But again, I was really impressed with the result today.”
“We missed players playing together last year like [Ben White, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard].”
“It was good, it was about the connections between players that I really like, the outside ones as well, Bukayo I think was exceptional.”
“The main focus has to be there, to improve our players and improve the connection between them, because they are already so good.”
On whether the squad has changed since winning the title: “They keep asking me that, but they look exactly the same to me!” … “They can flow, relax, no, I don’t like ‘relax’!”
On Christos Tzolis: “I love that a player who has only been with us a few weeks gets this kind of energy whenever he’s on the ball, and I think he’s earned it.”
On transfers: “I’m really happy with the squad that we have, and the main focus is to improve the players we already have.”
Arsenal won comfortably and Arteta spent most of his answer on connection. He talks about the players understanding each other, the growth in the game, and the link between Saka, White and Odegaard that injuries cost him last season. Asked about the transfer window, he says he is happy with the squad and wants to improve the players he already has. His squad will hear that clearly. He credits Tzolis for earning his place after only a few weeks at the club. The one thing missing is adversity. Arsenal were barely troubled, so there was little for him to frame.
Source: Arteta’s post-match press conference, reported by Daily Cannon — dailycannon.com (full transcript also published by Arsenal.com, “Every word: Arteta’s post-Coventry press conference”)
Matchweek 3
Aston Villa 0–1 Arsenal
Villa Park · Saka 59′
Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
Source: arsenal.com, “Every word from Arteta’s post-Aston Villa presser”, 31 August 2026
Q: On the victory?
I think it was a squad victory and everybody that was involved in the game in any capacity made a difference for us. That’s a big message for all of us because with the depth that we have and with the quality that we have, if you really make that count, that’s going to be a massive boost for us.
Q: On winning at Villa Park after losing last season?
Well that was the state in my tummy and I spoke to the players about it. That image when the players were on the floor totally gutted. It was a really difficult one to take and we used that to bring energy, to bring more conviction and belief to understand the difficulty of the challenge that we had ahead, especially against a team that was so successful last year and then they lost a few days ago in a really big way. You expect a reaction and this stadium is a really difficult one, one for the big matches and they make those moments count. Today when we had to suffer, we did suffer and when we had to be really dominant, we were. So I’m really pleased.
Q: On the differences to seeing the game out this year?
It was very different, and that shows a lot of maturity; that shows as well the tools that we have in the players to change momentum and to understand what the game needed. We brought a lot of leadership into the team. People who can hold the ball and really dominate in spells through the ball and in duels and I think they’ve done it. Ebs comes in, he makes a difference to win the game. Ezri makes a debut in really difficult circumstances; it’s not easy emotionally to come here and play. But he looks so composed, so calm, so in control. For all those reasons, I think that’s the reason why we won the game.
Q: On Eze’s impact?
We knew that he could create an action. He created three actions that he put people almost looking at the goalkeeper one-against-one, but as well I have to trust him. When they make the rotation, especially on the right-hand side, and Cash’s goal last year he lost him, we conceded the goal – and this year, I think he learned a lesson because every time something was happening he was at it, and I think he helped the team in a great way.
Q: On limiting Aston Villa to zero shots on target?
In the Premier League away from home, when you come to these quality squads, these quality coaches and they know how to make life really tough for you, you have to be at it. Consistently throughout the game, and individually, we did that really well.
Q: On transfer deadline day?
As I said, we’re trying to improve the squad – until tomorrow night we’re going to try to do that. I’ve been disconnected from the world for 24 hours because I think my energy probably has to be on the match, but I will get back on it now.
Q: Do you need more options?
It depends if everybody’s fit or not. We can talk about today, but it might change. We knew that if we had an injury on the backline with Jurrien out, we’d be in big trouble – so we had to do Ezri. Today, Mosquera could not continue, so we know the depth has to be really big when we’re fighting for four competitions in the manner that we play as well – so we’re going to try to do that.
Q: On Mosquera?
He’s fine, but he was feeling like he was about to have something, and that’s why we have the bench that we have, and that’s why we had to bring Ezri in.
To Sky Sports (Sky Sports match report): “It’s a tough place to come and earn three points. I think we deserved it.”
12/12 · Identity level fed: Capability & Belonging
Arteta combines Towards and Away From motivation. The image of the players on the floor after the previous defeat gives them something they do not want to experience again, and he turns it into energy, conviction and belief. He calls this a squad victory, then builds a specific list of SQAs: maturity, leadership, composure, calmness, control and the ability to change momentum. Those qualities belong to the players and strengthen their self-belief and resilience.
Arsenal 2–1 Chelsea
Emirates Stadium · Rogers 2′; Havertz 25′, Ødegaard 50′
Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
Source: Football.London, “Every word Arteta said”, 6 September 2026; Sky Sports mixed-zone
Q: You called Monday a squad victory, was this similar for you?
I think it was an exceptional performance. I think I enjoyed every minute of it from the beginning to the end, and the beginning was tough, but I enjoyed it because the team reacted in a spectacular way. The conviction, the determination, the quality of which I intend to have them constantly, it was beautiful. It was a fascinating game, I think, for the spectator as well, and I think we deserved to win the game, which I’m really pleased with, obviously.
Q: You’ve not considered a goal yet this season until that Rogers goal, what do you learn in those moments when your team go a goal down at home in such a big game?
There are some things that we do badly in that goal that we discussed before, but credit to them as well, that from that ball in the air, somebody’s able to put the ball very close to the post and score against David, which is not easy. And after that, react, insist, I think the crowd was incredible, again, I think the atmosphere we generated in the stadium was so inspiring as well, and it’s so helpful, and yeah, it feels like a big win for us.
Q: You created so many chances. Chelsea have been tipped as title challengers. On the basis of today, is that an early marker?
I think it’s an indication for us of how capable we are to perform at an even higher level than last season, and it depends on how we maintain and sustain that desire, that humbleness and continue every day to try to find a better version of myself and the team. We still have a lot to grow and a lot to offer, and this is the ambition of the team.
Q: Konsa’s tackle on Morgan Rogers?
Very English tackle, the crowd reacted to that, you guys love that more than a goal sometimes. It was great, obviously. What else we’ve done, I think he played 11 minutes, he had five or six training sessions, the way he played tonight against this opponent, playing man to man against Joao Pedro, he was phenomenal.
Q: Only Arsenal and City have 100%. Is that how hard the league is?
I don’t know, it’s super hard, and the margin is that you win games, and we’ve seen that. We went to Villa Park a few days ago and it was a really tough one, and today again, and we will go to Sunderland and it will be again so, so tough. We know every week it’s going to be like this, but that’s what we prepare for.
Q: Martin Ødegaard , what has changed?
Well first of all that he’s fit, he feels confident, I think one of the highest that I’ve seen him, and he has a point to prove from last season as well, and after missing so much football. When that happens, Kai the same, Bukayo the same, we miss so many attacking players last season for long, long periods, and I don’t know how many times they’ve played together those two in the last year or so, but probably not much, and when you start to feel the chemistry they have between them and what they can produce, it’s great. For me, he gets to that point because he’s enjoying his football, and when you are that, you have to enjoy what you do, you have to play with real intent, and that’s what I love to see him today, he was running forward, he took shots, he created so many situations for his teammates, so it was great.
Q: Kai looks in great shape?
Yeah, he looks, again, he looks happy, he looks settled, he looks happy, his personal life, some great things have happened as well, he feels fit, he’s training every day, he has this routine right now, and he’s scoring goals, and not only that, but it’s been an amazing work for the team.
Q: Update on Cristhian Mosquera?
Yeah, so he had a muscular issue, and we think it’s not too much, but we need to wait and see in the next few days how this evolves.
12/12 · Identity level fed: Capability & Purpose
Arteta makes the early concession a specific mistake and concentrates on the response: conviction, determination, quality, insistence and composure. Individual praise for Konsa, Ødegaard and Havertz is backed by observable behaviour, while the team’s ambition is daily improvement beyond last season’s level. He credits Chelsea, enjoys the win and still gives the group a demanding path.
Matchweek 4
Sunderland 0–2 Arsenal
Mikel Arteta, Arsenal: 5/12
“I’m extremely pleased to win again.”
Arteta welcomes another win after a demanding week. That offers encouragement, while the difficult schedule gives some context for the performance. Much of the interview material available for this review concerns the penalty and VAR.
There is less detail about Arsenal’s strengths or how to improve their football. After a win, players have the reassurance of the result, so this is a useful moment for constructive coaching. The reviewed material makes little use of that opportunity. The score reflects that limited guidance, rather than whether Arteta praises Sunderland.
Breakdown: Towards 1 · SQAs 1 · Adversity 1 · Identity 1 · Path 1 · Good Winner* 0
Source: BBC Match of the Day interview, carried by Yahoo News
Matchweek 5
Brighton & Hove Albion 3–0 Arsenal
Mikel Arteta, Arsenal: 7/12
“Everything that we discussed about the intensity that the game was going to require, winning the first duel, second ball, we were very, very far from the standards that are required.”
“It’s a big lesson to learn. Obviously what the team has done in the last six or seven weeks since the World Cup has been remarkable, considering all the difficulties and the amount of players that we had to adapt.”
“We have more time to swallow because it’s very, very painful, but without losing the perspective of what the team and the players have done.”
Arteta is precise about the failure. First duels, second balls, technical errors and neglected principles give the review practical value. He also restores some perspective by calling the previous six or seven weeks remarkable.
The repeated distance from required standards is severe and the future language stops mainly at learning and swallowing the result. There is enough evidence to prevent the defeat defining the team, but less support and less of a next-match picture than the strongest Good Loser* interviews provide.
Breakdown: Towards 1 · SQAs 1 · Adversity 1 · Identity 1 · Path 2 · Good Loser* 1
Source: BBC Sport post-match interview.
Matchweek 6
Arsenal 2–1 Leeds United
Saturday 10 October 2026, Emirates Stadium, London.
Mikel Arteta, Arsenal: 11/12
Identity level: Capability and Purpose.
And secondly because we had a point to prove something was touched in our identity against Brighton, especially in the manner that we reacted after being in a difficult situation and context. And today even though we started extremely well and being really dominant we didn’t capitalise on the spaces, the situation, the overloads that we had to attack the goal and the box.
And we got out of that through pinching our desire to win, to have a reaction to show the personality and courage that we have in this team. And once the equaliser went in, the energy changed, the finishers came in and made a huge difference again to help us to win the game and that’s what we are made of.
Arteta came into this match wanting to fix a feeling, and he said so plainly. Something was touched in our identity against Brighton. Most managers wouldn’t describe a week’s work that way. Then he gives the players something that belongs to them: the personality and courage that we have in this team, and that’s what we are made of. Both are in the present tense and both are Lasting. The Brighton defeat is described differently and stays one bad afternoon. He drops a mark on Path, though, because he names the failing exactly, all those overloads they never used, and then just leaves it lying there.
Breakdown: Towards 2 · SQAs 2 · Adversity 2 · Identity 2 · Path 1 · Good Winner* 2 · 11/12
Source: Sky Sports.
Matchweek 7
Nottingham Forest 0 – 1 Arsenal
Sunday 18 October 2026, 4.30pm, The City Ground.
Mikel Arteta, Arsenal
9/12. Identity level: Capability.
“We knew the margins would be really small. They are extremely well coached and organised.”
“The longer the game goes on, they gain more belief. We had to be so patient. And clinical when we got the chance.”
“The way they were defending, they were more comfortable. But we have players with different qualities and can adapt to what the game is delivering.”
“We have another three big chances that should be goals. That is the difference, you have to be clinical. If we keep generating chances, they will come.”
“Today, let’s enjoy the win, because it was a very tough one.”
Arteta wins 1-0 at a hard ground and keeps his players looking at the part they control. If we keep generating chances, they will come is Towards language, and it points at the next chances rather than the three they missed. The missed chances are named and bounded, and players with different qualities who can adapt is the capability, so both halves of the Elevate Formula are there. He’s generous about Forest, extremely well coached and organised, and he gives the players the night. SQAs, Identity and Path all sit at 1. Be clinical doesn’t tell anyone what to do differently.
Source: Arteta speaking to Sky Sports, reproduced by beIN Sports.
Matchweek 8
Arsenal 2 – 0 Everton
Saturday 24 October 2026, 3.00pm, Emirates Stadium.
Mikel Arteta, Arsenal
Score: 7/12. Identity level: Capability.
It was a big win for us. It was a tough week. The schedule that we had to go through, the amount of minutes and the games were coming thick and fast. We knew that we had a very good opponent in front of us, but I think overall we had a really good performance, win the game. fully deserved to win it as well
yes I hope now people are enjoying it because we didn’t score from a set play so we did really happy for the team to find different ways always to unlock the opposition and create problems
and well we all did I think and by the reaction of his teammates it was a really war in action we know Gaby how tough and strong he is and he seems to be okay
Delighted. I think we got for most parts. I think we were the better team and we dominated the game. But, yeah, Everton had their spells like as usual as well. They have a lot of threat, and, yeah, the fact to change five plays and still play at that level, it’s impressive.
No thoughts.
Arteta’s clip is short and the best of it is how he handles the week. The schedule, the minutes and the games coming thick and fast are the problem, so it is Other, nothing to do with the players themselves, and it is Fleeting, because the week is over. Five changes and the level held, and he calls that impressive. Gabriel is tough and strong, said as plain fact rather than praise for one afternoon, so that is Self, Broad and Lasting. Where he loses out is in what comes next. There is no aim for the group beyond finding different ways to unlock the opposition, and nothing for anyone to go and do. Path scores nothing at all.
Source: BBC Sport match report.
Matchweek 9
Liverpool 0 – 1 Arsenal
Sunday 1 November 2026, 4.30pm, Anfield, Liverpool.
Mikel Arteta, Arsenal
Score: 9/12. Identity level: Esteem & Capability.
Mikel, there are wins, there are away wins, and then there are wins like that. That seems to matter a huge amount.
Yeah, especially for everybody that is attached to this football club. 14 years without winning here is a long time. We discussed in the last two days after the defeat against Liverpool that things happen for a reason and that’s going to give us another spring, another kind of hunger and belief to come here and do it. And what the team has done today, it’s incredible.
Not your most fluent performance. That was hard, wasn’t it? Really hard.
It was very fluid at times. We generated six or seven big chances, but the game becomes very chaotic the moment you just misplace a pass, a clearance. These guys are running at you. It’s incredible the capacity they have to generate vertical attacks. But the way the team sustained that kind of game was incredible for me.
Does that make it even more pleasing for you, the way that the application of the team was on show?
In the moment that they are, because they are in a really good moment. They won every game and fully deserves as well. And to come here and win in the manner that we’ve done, I think the players deserve so much credit.
Declan Rice’s assist for that goal, it looks easy, doesn’t it? But tell us about his approach to the game that leads him to do that.
First of all, the moment to recognise the open situation, to make the overlap, the timing of him and Noni just playing the two-by-one in the right manner and arriving from the far side constantly to this space is something that we discussed in the second half to have two big chances, one that Virgil clears the ball incredibly well to avoid the goal. And yeah, there were a lot of moments that the team has some incredible actions.
A first win at Anfield in fourteen years, and Arteta uses it to teach his players something about the defeat a few days earlier. Things happen for a reason, and the reason was that it gave them another spring, another kind of hunger and belief. A bad result becomes the fuel for this one. That is the Elevate Formula working: the defeat is Fleeting and what came out of it belongs to them.
He is generous about Liverpool, who he says are in a really good moment and fully deserve it, and he picks out Declan Rice’s assist down to the recognition, the overlap and the timing. That is praise a player can use. What is missing is the next thing. He sets no standard for the next match, and the qualities he credits, the hunger, the belief and the way the team sustained a chaotic game, are all described as things that happened on Sunday. Named as qualities the squad has, they would be SQAs the players could draw on again; named as things that happened once, they stay in the past.
Source: BBC Sport.
What links this league table to a life-or-death negotiation?
A young mother. Her children asleep in the back of the car. A hosepipe connected to the exhaust. A police negotiator with three seconds to find the words that might save their lives.
That call is where The 7 Skills to impress™ began.
When I listen to a manager after a match, I listen for the message beneath the words. A manager can be talking about a win or a loss, but the way they frame it can lift or chip away at a player’s belief before anyone even realises it.
Read Three Seconds to Save Their Lives: Jacqui’s Story and find out what he said.